Maine and 24 other states are suing the Trump administration over an anticipated lapse in food assistance benefits next month due to the ongoing federal government shutdown.

Attorney General Aaron Frey is part of a coalition of attorneys general and governors from other states arguing that the administration is planning to unlawfully withhold Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program funds, which are expected to be suspended starting Nov. 1.

The group filed a federal lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Agriculture and U.S. Office of Management and Budget in federal court in Massachusetts on Tuesday.

“Forty-two million Americans, including 169,000 Mainers, are going to go hungry this Thanksgiving because the administration is simply refusing to use the billions available to prevent this,” Frey said in a written statement. “It is unconscionably cruel and unlawful. My colleagues and I are going to court to insist the Trump administration follow the law and use the funds Congress appropriated to ensure SNAP can continue through the shutdown.”

A new federal fiscal year started Oct. 1 without an appropriation by Congress to fund the federal government, which led to the ongoing shutdown. On Oct. 10, the USDA sent a letter to SNAP agencies saying that if the shutdown continued, there would be insufficient funds to pay full November SNAP benefits to approximately 42 million people across the country that rely on them.

About 170,000 Mainers  — 12.5% of the state’s population — use SNAP, according to the Maine Department of Health and Human Services.

While the USDA has said it has insufficient funds, Frey’s office said Tuesday that the agency has billions of dollars in SNAP-specific contingency funds that could be used to keep the program running during the shutdown, and that the lapse will have “dire consequences for the health and well-being of millions across the country.”

The lawsuit said the USDA has several pools of contingency and appropriated funds it could pull from to either partly or fully fund the November benefits, and says that it has already done so to fund the Women, Infants & Children program during the shutdown.

The USDA, however, has said that the contingency funds in question are not legally available to cover regular benefits and that transfers from other sources would pull away funding for school meals and infant formula. It also blamed Democrats for the shutdown.

“We are approaching an inflection point for Senate Democrats,” a USDA spokesperson said in a written statement. “Continue to hold out for the Far-Left wing of the party or reopen the government so mothers, babies, and the most vulnerable among us can receive timely … SNAP allotments.”

The lapse in funding will be harmful to both states and SNAP recipients, the suit said.

“It is states that operate SNAP on the ground and are forced into the position of trying to explain to needy, hungry people — who include hardworking individuals, families with children, seniors and veterans — why they will not be receiving the benefits they have been promised, despite the availability of funds and the federal government’s decisions to fund other programs during this shutdown,” it said.

The coalition was expected to file a temporary restraining order later Tuesday asking the court to immediately turn the benefits back on.

Gov. Janet Mills, a Democrat, said Tuesday that she supports the lawsuit and also called on the USDA to distribute contingency funds to keep SNAP running. Mills said she has directed her administration “to explore all options and available alternatives if a resolution is not reached.”

“Each day that passes during this shutdown causes more uncertainty and fear for people across the nation,” the governor said in a written statement. “The Trump administration and Republicans in Congress need to listen to the people of our country and stop cutting health care, stop hurting working families and end this needless shut down.”